Determination of the Effects of Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation on the Heart Rate Variability Using a Machine Learning Pipeline.

Background: We are all aware of day-to-day healthy stress, but, when sustained for long periods, stress is believed to lead to serious physical and mental health issues.

Materials And Methods: In this study, we investigated the potential effects of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) on stress processing as reflected in the electrocardiogram (ECG)-derived biomarkers of stress adaptability. Stress reflecting biomarkers included a range of heart rate variability metrics: standard deviation of N-N intervals (SDNN), root mean squared of successive differences in heartbeat intervals (RMSSD), low-frequency component, high-frequency component and their ratio (LF, HF, and LF/HF).

The neural representation of the gender of faces in the primate visual system: A computer modeling study.

We use an established neural network model of the primate visual system to show how neurons might learn to encode the gender of faces. The model consists of a hierarchy of 4 competitive neuronal layers with associatively modifiable feedforward synaptic connections between successive layers. During training, the network was presented with many realistic images of male and female faces, during which the synaptic connections are modified using biologically plausible local associative learning rules.